The Account Of My Ten Foot Square Hut Analysis

“The Tale of Genji” and “The Account of my Ten Foot Square Hut” are classical sources of Japanese art. Both of these pieces date a long way back and contain valuable information about olden days Japanese history and religion. “The Tale of Genji” and “The Account of my Ten Foot Square Hut” are written in completely different styles, tell completely contrasting stories, and were written at different times. However, the two texts shed light on one historical period, namely the Heian period. The presence of themes such as impermanence of things ranging from human behaviour to life, experiences that people face, and realization of the world around are very relevant to religion. Reading both pieces, one can find valuable insights about the relevance of religious concepts such as ritual, the way, meditation, and belief in the afterlife to everyday life in the Heian period. These ideas, as well as many others, can be …show more content…
This idea is greatly described in the Lotus Sutra. There once was a wealthy merchant who lived in a large house. “His own house was big and rambling, but it only had one gate” (The Lotus Sutra 56). The house was in disarray and was very old. In this house lived many people along with “ten, twenty, perhaps thirty” sons of the merchant. One day a fire broke out and was quickly spreading throughout the house. The children of the man were playing with their toys and he realized he could not carry all of them through one door. Nor could he persuade them to follow him because they were too focused on their toys. However, the father understood the nature of his sons and realized that all he had to do was to offer something better to distract his children and make them leave the house. He offered other toys in exchange for leaving the house and they agreed. The merchant did not care about losing his house for he knew it was impermanent and would be gone